Welcome “My Lord” and “My Lady” are the first words you hear at the Texas Renaissance festival. A soon as you enter the gates, you are transported to an era of notorious vikings and pirates, brave knights, sultry gypsies, wealthy dukes, and majestic kings and queens. If you’re a fan of period dramas like Tudors, Reign, Game of Thrones and movies like Braveheart and Gladiator this festival will knock your socks off! Everyone at the festival is in character, putting on their best English accent and wearing their finest costumes. The grounds are transformed to a medieval kingdom, think Disney meets the middle ages. Shops selling dragon eggs and teeth, swords and armor, silver goblets, wooden beer mugs, corsets, hats the whole shebang! It really feels like you’ve traveled back in time.
The Texas Renaissance festival is the largest of its kind in the country and is located in Todd Mission TX. It runs from October 11th through November 30th, from 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM. There are 8 themed weekends of fun to experience like the Barbarian Invasion, Roman Bacchanal, Pirate adventure, Celtic Christmas to name a few. We attended the Highland fling – Scotish theme and loved it! The air was filled with tunes of bagpipes and drums, women flaunted their corsets and dresses while men frolicked around in kilts.
Join in the festivities and participate in contests, watch fire dancers and jousting knights, shop at the the 800 + artisan shops, ride on dragon swings and get henna tattoos and face paintings. This is a great event for the entire family to enjoy.
These 20 photo’s bring the festivities to life!
The grounds and shops
Bagpipes and Kilts!
Love the name of this food court, although the food at the festival could be better.
Knight in his shining armor
Jousting tournament at the arena
Gypsy dance and music
Gypsy dancers flaunting their sword balancing skills
Fierce fire dancers
Meet the royals – the costumes are ridiculous!
In blue from head to toe
Sassy ladies in red, drinking from their silver goblets. Aren’t those goblets adorable!
The men must have a blast at this festival 😛
Leader of the Barbarian tribe
Scary Viking enjoying his mead!
Love the get up! These guys went all out!
A centaur… That’s right!
The consequences of a tootsie could be fatal…lol
Parades!
The fire whip show
Fireworks at the end of the night. A spectacular finale
Quick Tips for a fun day at the festival:
- Tickets online are cheaper than buying them at the gate. You need to show a confirmation of purchase on your phone and they print the tickets at the entrance for you.
- Grab a map and show schedule for $5 near the entrance and plan your day
- Get there as early as possible to make the most of the festivities
- Carry cash, most places accept credit cards but some food vendors are cash only
- Heads up – food and beverage at the festival are sub par and expensive
- For a cheesy and fun memory, take a photo in costumes at Ye Old time photos. Of course it’s expensive, so check how much it would cost your group before you start dressing up for the photo 😛
- You can also rent costumes for the day at the festival. Check out this handy FAQ for more tips.
November 28-30 is the last weekend of the festival. See festival and ticket information here.
Disclaimer: Photo credit to Texas Renaissance Festival and Frank Kovalchek (via Flickr)
Hope you enjoyed this post. See you at the festivities! Subscribe to our blog and “Like” our Facebook page for more travel tips and posts on fun things to do around Austin.